forgottenrealmsfandomcom-20200223-history
Gorion's Ward
Gorion's Ward was the last Bhaalspawn left alive at the end of the Throne of Bhaal conflict. The ward was raised as the foster child of the sage Gorion and thus received this nickname. History Early History Gorion's Ward was raised in Candlekeep, a library fortress on the Sword Coast. The ward, along with Imoen and Sarevok, were found as a baby by the sage. Gorion took the ward and Imoen but had to leave Sarevok behind. All three children were known by Gorion to be Bhaalspawn, the mortal half-god progenies of the dead god Bhaal, who had created an intricate plan to be raised from his unavoidable death by using the souls of his children to resurrect himself. All Bhaalspawn felt the need for conflict to some degree, save for Imoen, whose nature was drowned by a carefree spirit. 'The cold war between Amn and Baldur's Gate' Gorion believed Candlekeep to be a safe place to hide the children from their bloodthirsty siblings. To Gorion's fear, in 1368 DR, bounty hunters under the pay of Sarevok infiltrated the keep and made an attempt on the ward's life. The sage sent word to his old contacts, including Elminster, along with the two harpers, Khalid and Jaheira, and made plans for an escape. He planned to group up with the harpers and help protect the ward from Sarevok. Gorion and his ward left hurriedly from Candlekeep but were waylaid by Sarevok. Seeing no way out, Gorion sacrificed himself to allow the ward enough time to flee. Sarevok, having lost his prey, put out a public bounty on Gorion's Ward. The next morning, the ward was greeted by Imoen, who had earlier snuck into Gorion's chambers and read a private note. Suspecting trouble, she left Candlekeep to aid them. The ward had been told to find Khalid and Jaheira at the Friendly Arm Inn if something were to happen to Gorion. It is not known if the ward met with the harpers, though it is known that he traveled with the pair later. On the way to the inn he met a pair of dubious individuals: Xzar, a mad Necromancer; and Montaron, an evil halfling, both of which were Zhentarim agents. They wanted traveling companions for a trip to Nashkel—in the opposite direction of the inn—to investigate trouble at the local iron mines. The ward may have accepted their company or found the harpers. Perhaps the ward did both, as the harpers were also traveling to Nashkel for the same reason. Either way, the ward, and the adventurers he met on the way, found that the iron mines were being tainted by kobolds led by a half-orc cleric of Cyric named Mulahey. After dispatching Mulahey, the ward learned that Sarevok may have been behind the cold war brewing between Amn and Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate believed Amn was poisoning the iron and stealing the weapons so that when it attacked, the sword coast would be defenseless. The ward followed a lead to Beregost, where an agent of Sarevok named Tranzig was staying. The ward's party may have interrogated Tranzig as Elminster potentially gave them the information needed to move on to the next goal. Either way, the ward's next lead took the adventurers to a bandit camp in the Wood of Sharp Teeth, where one of Sarevok's highest ranking agents, the half-ogre Tazok, was leading the bandits in stealing the small amounts of good iron. The iron was being brought in from the Sword Coast's mines and fueling the aggregations between Amn and Baldur's Gate. The companions arrived and routed the camp but Tazok was not found. However, a new lead sent them to the Cloakwood forest. There they found a secret mine where Sarevok was creating the small amount of good iron to be found on the Sword Coast. He was selling the iron to Baldur's Gate through his position as leader of the Iron Throne merchants and gaining renown within the city. The ward and their companions flooded out the secret mine, ending Sarevok's operation there. 'Sarevok's Fall' Now knowing about the Iron Throne's affiliation with Sarevok and with the help of a Flaming Fist mercenary named Scar, the ward destroyed their leaders at their headquarters in Baldur's Gate, but Sarevok eluded them. It was at the point that the ward returned home to Candlekeep. Here, the ward learned of their true nature as Bhaalspawn, after reading a letter left to them by Gorion. He also met a man named Koveras who was actually Sarevok in disguise. Koveras had the ward kill some nobles who had been replaced by doppelgangers. After doing so, Sarevok placed the bodies of the real nobles in the place of the fake bodies and accused the ward of murder. The ward and his companions were branded as outlaws and imprisoned below Candlekeep, in a set of monster infested catacombs. They escaped with their lives, but were considered criminals. They returned to Baldur's Gate to find proof of Sarevok's plans. Ironically, Tamoko, one of Sarevok's chief agents, as well as his lover, betrayed the location of the evidence. Sarevok was just about to be crowned a Duke of Baldur's Gate when the ward announced that Sarevok wanted to use Baldur's Gate for a bloodwar against Amn, which he believed would grant him his father's divinity as the Lord of Murder. Sarevok fled to the catacombs beneath Baldur's Gate, and the ward was pardoned and charged with Sarevok's destruction. Deep below Baldur's Gate in a buried Temple of Bhaal, the ward and his companions faced off against Sarevok and his chief agents. The ward emerged victorious and was hailed a hero. ---- Shadows of Amn Gorion's Ward's reputation as a hero lasted for many months in Baldur's Gate. Soon, however, the people began to realise that the ward and Sarevok shared a common sire. The ward left the city along with Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, and Dynaheir (see possible companions section below). Their reputation in Baldur's Gate, however, had garnered the attention of a new individual; a mage named Jon Irenicus, who sought the power locked away inside the ward and Imoen. The travellers were captured in the night by Irenicus's vampire agents and brought to a dungeon below Athkatla in the nation of Amn. Irenicus performed tortuous experiments on the ward and Imoen, before a battle between Irenicus's vampires (led by his sister, Bodhi) and the Shadow Thieves exploded in the secret dungeon. Imoen managed to break free during the chaos and helped the ward escape his cell. The pair found Jaheira and Minsc in nearby cells, and to Minsc's dismay, the remains of his lover, Dynaheir, rotting in a nearby cell. 'From Athkatla to Spellhold' The companions managed to fight their way through the many guardians left behind during the battle and made their way to the second level of the dungeon via a portal. Here they found another captive named Yoshimo, a bounty hunter from Kara-Tur. In the room beyond that, Jaheira recognized the dissected body of her husband Khalid. Imoen stated that she had been forced to watch what was done to him. The party then made their way out of the dungeon but were met by Irenicus dispatching the last Shadow Thieves, at the exit. Irenicus and Imoen exchanged spells but were stopped when a regiment of Cowled Wizards, a wizard sect within the city who enforced the anti-magic laws, teleported to their location and demanded that Imoen and Irenicus stand down to be taken under arrest. After a short scuffle between Irenicus and the wizards, Irenicus surrendered. He and Imeon were taken to Spellhold and locked away as magical deviants. The ward set out to find Irenicus and Imoen in the Spellhold asylum. The ward quickly learned of a guild war between the Shadow Thieves and a new guild. Both parties desired to use the Ward to help with their war. The Shadow Thieves offered the ward help in finding Irenicus for a sum of 20000 gold. The ward set out to find work and went about eliminating several threats to Amn and Athkatla. It was during this time that the ward was contacted by Bodhi, the leader of the second guild warring for control of the Athkatla, a guild of vampires. With the help of one of these guilds, the ward met with the captain, Saemon Havarian, and voyaged on The Galante to Brynnlaw, the island where Spellhold was located. Irenicus had taken control of the facility away from the Cowled Wizards and had built a machine to unlock and extract the Bhaal essence from Imoen and the ward. Bodhi and Irenicus desired the essence to fuel their goal for immortality. After the ward, as well as Imoen, were captured, Imoen's essence was extracted and given to Bodhi, while the ward's was extracted for Irenicus. The companions were then tossed into the lower levels of the asylum to be destroyed by the madmen, creatures, and traps within. They escaped, however, and fought off Irenicus and Bodhi, who fled by portal to the Underdark. 'Irenicus' fall' The ward had two options in tracking Irenicus, one was to chase him through the portal to Underdark, and the other was to take a more careful measure and travel by boat. Either way, Irenicus consorted with a local drow matron mother, in the city of Ust Natha. He was seeking passage to the elven city of Suldanessellar, where he and his sister Bodhi begun their lives as elves. He had stolen the eggs of a silver dragon to be used by the matron mother in a demonic summoning ritual. The silver dragon tasked the ward in retrieving the eggs. It placed an illusion on the party that made them appear to be drow. The ward infiltrated the drow society and successfully saved the dragon's eggs. The silver dragon showed the ward where Irenicus had exited the Underdark. The ward exited the dark realm, to be captured by surface elves. Captain Elhan questioned the ward's party, and then gave them the task of getting the Rhynn Lanthorn stolen by Bodhi, so they could reenter their city. The ward proceeded to gather allies in Amn for the assault on Bodhi's lair. The ward may have got either Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions, the Shadow Thieves, or the Paladins of the Order of the Radiant Heart to help them. Either way, the ward's assault was successful; the companions found all of Bodhi's vampires and staked them, then staked Bodhi herself, granting Imoen the return of her soul. After returning the lanthorn, the companions and Elhan returned to Suldanessellar. Here, they found the city to be under attack. The ward found Queen Ellesime at a place called the Tree of Life, which Irenicus was draining for his goal of immortality. The ward destroyed Irenicus's Parasites which he was using to drain the tree, then fought and killed Irenicus. However, before dying, he sucked the companions into Hell with him, where they fought in a final show down. Irenicus fell and the ward's soul was returned. Irenicus was left to rot in the Nine Hells while the ward and his group were pulled back to the Prime Material Plane. The ward was honored by Suldanessellar and once again hailed a hero. ---- Throne of Bhaal During the Thone of Bhaal crisis, the ward learned of several other Bhaalspawn rising up around the Sword Coast. Not only common races had the taint of Bhaal within them, but also other races, from xvarts, to dragons. Soon after the events of Shadows of Amn, a Bhaalspawn of the name Illasera confronted the ward, and engaged in battle. The ward was victorious, and later found out that Illasera was one of The Five, a group of powerful Bhaalspawn of different backgrounds. After also becoming a powerful Bhaalspawn, the ward acquired access to a pocket plane, where he met with a solar. The solar told the "godling" about their history, including events surrounding their mother, Alianna.Note that the solar may have lied to the ward, as her story did not add up and was, in general, inconsistent. For example, she stated that the ward was born during the Time of Troubles (making the ward ten years of age by the time they left Candlekeep). This is inconsistent with the age at which the ward actually left Candlekeep, which was known to be twenty. 'Amelyssan's fall' After this, the ward ended up in Saradush, where they met Melissan, a disguised priestess of Bhaal. Melissan had been gathering all the Bhaalspawn, under the false pretence of protecting them. However, she was merely gathering them so that she could gather their essences and become the new deity of murder. She enticed the fire giant Bhaalspawn, Yaga-Shura, to attack Saradush, which was governed by another Bhaalspawn, Gromnir Il-Khan. After the ward dispatched the two warring Bhaalspawns, they travelled to Amkethran and slew the rest of the Five. It was then that the ward found out about Melissan, actually named Amelyssan, and her evil scheme. By this point, Amelyssan was undergoing the procedure to become the new deity of murder, and had accumulated a huge amount of power. After a long and strenuous battle, the ward stopped the ascension, and killed Amelyssan. The prophecy of the Bhaalspawn was now complete. Appendix Notes Appearances ;Video games * ''Baldur's Gate'' * ''Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' * ''Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' External links * References Category:Inhabitants Category:Inhabitants of Candlekeep Category:Inhabitants of the Sword Coast Category:Inhabitants of Faerun Category:Inhabitants of Toril Category:Bhaalspawn